Exodus 4:27-31

Exodus 4:27-31

English Standard Version 

  Moses was so focused that the people would not believe, but Aaron and Moses do exactly as God had instructed them, and the people believe.  They are ready to believe, eager to hear what God has in store for them.  Aaron and Moses work together, and through them, the people are led into their next step.  This is what happens when people work together to glorify and serve God -- the people are strengthened.  

  May we follow their example.  Moses and Aaron had to work together, and they each used what God had given them.  They may have been afraid or uncertain, but they trusted in God, and they learned to trust in each other.  The people looked at them and saw God working through them.  They bowed their heads and worshiped.  

Exodus 4:24-26

Exodus 4:24-26 

English Standard Version 

  On the list of verses that I'd just as soon skip, this strange passage is near the top of the list.  It's an obscure passage that struggles away from most attempts to explain it.  Here is Moses on the way to liberate the Hebrew people from Egypt, and he is suddenly battling for his life.  Remember, the Lord has told Moses that he can go in peace, because the people who seek his life are dead.  So the way is thought to be clear, but there is more adversity to face.  There is a bloody struggle.

  Perhaps the event points forward to the bloody struggle in Egypt that awaits.  Perhaps it is a test in the wilderness, as many other Biblical characters must face.  

  I cannot fully explain it -- there are mysteries beyond what I can comprehend.  I do know that the Bible often reminds me that God is less tame than I am tempted to think.  As Aslan explains in C.S. Lewis' works, God isn't safe, but God is good.  To entrust ourselves to God is to trust something wild that cannot be fully known.  Are you willing to take that step?  Moses could've turned and run at this point, recognizing that this was a God not to be controlled.  Moses stayed, faithfully, continuing to trust in God.  If Moses can do so after such an event, then perhaps we should as well, despite not being able to see fully what God has in store for us.

Exodus 4:21-23

Exodus 4:21-23 

English Standard Version

  Like many of you, I've often wondered what it means for God to say that he'll harden Pharaoh's heart.  Does this mean that God isn't allowing Pharaoh to exercise his free will?  Is God forcing him into this situation?

  I don't think that's the case.  It would be in conflict with so much else of what we see in Scripture.  I do think that God allows Pharaoh's worst tendencies to stand out here, and Pharaoh's arrogance ends up ruling his mind and heart and driving his decisions.  

  What we see is a clash -- Pharaoh's belief in himself as a god, and God's actual power and strength.  At some point, all of our false gods come into conflict with the reality of God's awesome wisdom and sovereignty.  We have a decision to make -- will we stubbornly stick to our own view of the universe, or will we submit to God's lordship, trusting that as hard as it may seem, God's wisdom is greater than our own?

Exodus 4:18-20

Exodus 4:18-20 

English Standard Version 

  I'm guessing that Moses omitted the part about fleeing for his life from Egypt when he was initially talking with Jethro.  Probably a good thing to skip over when meeting your future father-in-law if you want to make a good impression.  

  We all have things in our past that we'd prefer weren't there.  You do.  I do.  Moses did.  

  But that doesn't stop God from using you, just as it didn't stop God from using Moses.  I don't think this is God endorsing Moses' prior action, but it is God saying that this doesn't have to be an obstacle to faithfulness going forward.  

  

Exodus 4:14-17

Exodus 4:14-17

English Standard Version 

  When we make obstacles, God makes a way.  

  Moses had countered every one of God's arguments as to why Moses should go, and God continued making a path forward.  When Moses said that he wasn't a good enough speaker, God then brings the community into it, utilizing Moses's brother to join with Moses.  Moses built a wall, and God created a path forward.

  It's the story of sin.  Humans put obstacles between us and God, and Jesus creates a path through them.  It was at tremendous cost, but cost was no object -- you are of such surpassing value to God that God would do anything to redeem you.  No matter how hard we make it, God's love is greater than our failures, greater than our stubbornness.  God wants to dwell with you, and God will not be denied.

  

Exodus 4:10-13

Exodus 4:10-13

English Standard Version 

  We omit this part of the story.  Moses, one of the greatest Biblical leaders, really was not interested in doing his part.  He'd already fled Egypt and wanted to spend his days caring for sheep in Midian, far from Egypt and the life he left behind.  Every time God made a way forward, Moses came up with a reason as to why Moses wasn't the man for the job.  Moses kept saying no -- he was afraid and uncertain.  He seems convinced that it is God asking him, but he wasn't want any part of God's plan here.

  Moses is human, too.  You can probably relate to being afraid and uncertain.  It's easy to think that if we knew what Biblical characters knew, we'd go along joyfully with God's plan, but that's omitting the reality that most of them didn't go along willingly.  They resisted, often every step of the way.  They were human like we are, and God loved them and used them as part of the greater story of liberation.

Exodus 4:6-9

Exodus 4:6-9 

English Standard Version 

  There is only so much we can control.  I feel like we need to remind ourselves of that every day -- we like to be in control, and it's easy to make an idol out of it.  Moses could've spent so much time trying to figure out exactly what the Egyptians might respond to that he never would have actually executed the plan.  Instead, God was laying out a path for Moses to step into trusting God.  Moses was afraid and filled with doubt, but God showed how God would continue to work and open the eyes of others.  It was outside of Moses' control, though -- Moses was going to have to trust God to move in the hearts and minds of others.

  We need to do the same.  The actions of others are often beyond our control.  We need to trust God with this step, and the next step, and God will take care of the ones after that as well.  

Exodus 4:1-5

Exodus 4:1-5 

English Standard Version 

  Moses doesn't come across as the bravest figure, willing to run headlong into conflict, does he?  Moses is struggling to find any possible way out here.  Moses seems to think that God doesn't have a backup argument... as though God would just admit defeat and move on to Plan B!  Maybe that happened with someone else and it didn't get recorded -- maybe Moses is the plan B.  I've never thought of that before.  

  I've said it hundreds of times before, but I love how human the Bible is.  There's room for us in here.  Do you have doubts?  Do you have questions about God?  Ask God.  God's not afraid.  God's not going to walk away.  The God who created the sea and sky and redeems you out of death's strong grip isn't going to turn tail because you aren't sure exactly what God is doing for you or because you don't know if you're ready for it.  God wants you to succeed -- we forget that sometime, probably because we face so much opposition elsewhere in life.  God wants the best for you, and will pay any price to bring that into our lives for all eternity.  

Exodus 3:19-22

Exodus 3:19-22 

English Standard Version 

  Egypt was renowned for its fabulous wealth.  Luxuries and jewelry would've been known throughout the world.  Egypt was power and affluence, and the thought of the Jewish people stripping away some of that on their way out would have delighted the listeners of this story.  Much of that wealth, the story tells us, is built on the backs of Hebrew slaves, who moved to Egypt and helped bring the people through famine, only to be enslaved later on.  

  God tells Moses here that the king will not let them go unless compelled.  So perhaps they see opportunity, but there is real fear as well.  Will this work as God says?  How will they know?  What might happen if they are wrong?

  There always seem to be more questions than answers.  God is in the midst of the uncertainty, in the midst of the fear, and God will do wonders in the midst of it all.  

Exodus 3:15-18

Exodus 3:15-18 

English Standard Version

  God is giving Moses assurance here -- the people will hear, and they will listen, and they will seek an opportunity to worship.  God is using Moses to remind the people of their history with God -- this isn't something new that God is doing with a new people, but God is building on a history of intervention, and just as God sustained the culture before, God will sustain them now.  

  This is what's helpful about reading church history.  We read about things the church endured in previous generations, and we see how God brought the people through challenges, pushing them beyond obstacles into new stages of growth.  It's the same church, generation after generation, and the same God, faithfully guiding the people into the future.  It can be an uncertain future in our minds, but we can know with certainty that God will be with us and that God holds that future in God's hands.

Exodus 3:13-14

Exodus 3:13-14 

English Standard Version 

  If you were going on a mission from anyone, you'd want some signal of authority.  You'd want something that offered proof that an organization is vouching for you as an official emissary.  That's exactly what Moses requests -- evidence of God's authority for his mission.  

  Moses, as usual, gets more than he bargains for.  

  God gives him not just a name, but a divine mystery.  I read this once translated as I will be whosoever I will be.  God doesn't fit neatly into our ideas of identity -- a name cannot contain God.  God is bigger than our concepts.  God is bigger than our minds -- we cannot wrap our minds around God.  We try, all the time, but God escapes our grasp, time and time again.

  And this is a good thing.  We do not want a God that fits neatly into what we can expect.  We do not want a God that fits into our minds, because that means that God isn't bigger than we can imagine.  A God who exists outside of time and space is a God we'll never be able to fully conceptualize, but this is a God worth chasing, a God worth pursuing, and a God worth worshiping.

Exodus 3:10-12

Exodus 3:10-12 

English Standard Version 

  Moses isn't alone in his hesitation.  Isaiah and Jeremiah had similar responses to God's calling.  That Moses has some fear about going is natural -- his first attempt at intervention between the Hebrews and the Israelites didn't go very well -- he ended up in Midian due to fear at being found out.  Moses is an outsider now -- he's not seeing his upbringing as fantastic preparation for the mission God has set before him.

  God gives Moses an assurance that Moses doesn't go alone.  It's a little funny to me to picture Moses having this conversation with a burning bush, but Moses realizes there is something extraordinary going on here.  God is calling him now and promising a future to Moses.  

  In the same way, God calls us, having prepared us in particular ways, sending us into uncertain situations, and always promising God's presence with us.  We never go alone -- we go with God, and surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses that is the church in every time and place.

Exodus 3:7-9

Exodus 3:7-9 

English Standard Version 

  To all of you who suffer:  God sees.  You may have questions about God's response and questions about the community and questions about what comes next, but God sees.  Your suffering is not unnoticed.  God knows your suffering, and God will come down to deliver you.  I can't tell you when, and I'll not pretend that it makes everything ok in the meantime... but God sees, and God will come down in order to bring you up.  There is hope.

Exodus 3:1-6

Exodus 3:1-6 

English Standard Version 

  Moses says to himself that he'll turn aside to see this great sight... and he has no idea how this will completely transform his life.  He'll go from a shepherd in the backside of the wilderness to confronting Pharaoh in an attempt to free the Israelites to talking to God on a regular occasion as he leads the people to the cusp of the Promised Land.  

  We often don't know what we're getting into.  But God calls us, often having uniquely prepared us in ways we don't fully understand in the past.  Suddenly, we realize that the thing that happened years ago was actually preparation, and God will use that experience now to get us ready for what is to come.  

  We are called, out of the ordinary, day to day life, into the extraordinary.  May we go with humility, with courage, and with confidence, trusting in God every step of the way.

Exodus 2:23-25

Exodus 2:23-25 

English Standard Version 

  God hears.  God remembers.  God knows.  

  In all of our suffering, may we hold on to this.  The suffering of the Egyptians didn't immediately end.  They probably had a lot of questions, a lot of long, dark nights, and a lot of pain.  But that doesn't mean that God didn't have concern or interest.  There was a plan.  There is a plan.  There is salvation and deliverance, even if we cannot see it in the moment.

Exodus 2:16-22

Exodus 2:16-22 

English Standard Version 

  Here we see Moses, liberating people from an enemy.  The image that is funny to me is that Moses saves these women from the enemy, waters their flocks, and they up and leave him there.  He's hanging out by the well on his own, and their father has to convince them to bring him home.

  There are multiple scenes throughout Scripture where a young man meets his bride at the well.  In John 4, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at the well.  She's had a long history of failed relationships, but this isn't just another betrothal scene.  Instead, Jesus points beyond earthly marriage to the heavenly love and acceptance that earthly love points to.  He's telling all of us that these well scenes that end in love are simply precursors to the ultimate love that we find in God, and so we should celebrate love where we see it today, but ultimate, we are all sojourners in a foreign land who find our true home in God.

Exodus 2:11-15

Exodus 2:11-15 

English Standard Version 

  Here is Moses, a Jewish boy who grew up in the Egyptian temple, and his first actions as an adult are to strike an Egyptian in defense of a Hebrew, and then it is to mediate a dispute between two Hebrews, attempting to impose a standard of justice.  The Hebrews rebel, asking about his authority, and in these few verses, we see patterns that will emerge throughout his entire life.  Moses will be at the center of the conflict between the Egyptians and the Hebrews, and he'll be mediating disputes between the Hebrews, trying to impose a standard of justice upon their behavior.  

  For us, here in 21st century America, the lesson is to hold on to a standard of behavior.  There is right and wrong, and Scripture points us towards that.  Let us not fall into the American trap of believing that each person has their own ethic and they are all equal.  Moses fought against that, and we should as well.  

Exodus 2:5-10

Exodus 2:5-10

English Standard Version 

  The early story of Exodus isn't how we would design it.  But think of the gift that it gives Moses later on -- he's able to relate to the Israelites under slavery because he experiences it as a young child, but he's also raised in the palace, so he understands the Egyptians and their way of life.  What better preparation for Moses, who would later directly address Pharoah and lead the people out of slavery?  It works out in the long run, but in the short term, there is so much risk and danger.  I shrink back because I can't see the longer perspective, but that's the gift of being part of God's church -- it's an eternal organization, one that is guaranteed to conquer the forces opposing it.  That's the long term perspective that Jesus gives us.  

Exodus 2:1-4

Exodus 2:1-4

English Standard Version 

  Happy New Year!  We'll start the new year by following Moses for a while.  Even the beginning of his story is fascinating, because the work used for 'basket' is the same word for Noah's ark.  Just as the ark saved the people from destruction, so it will deliver Moses from the watery destruction that Pharoah has in mind for Hebrew boys.  Pharoah sees a threat and believes that he can conquer it through his worldly power.  He doesn't realize that he's up against a power greater than he can fathom.

  In the same way, obstacles that we'll face this year will seem more daunting than we can imagine.  We won't be able to see a way around them, but God can.  God has a different perspective, an eternal perspective, and God's power is greater than any we can wrap our minds around.  So may we seek first to trust God in all things, and may we learn that what look to be an ending may, in fact, be a new beginning.